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Cutting a Mutated Redwood Growth - Random Photos

1st off a disclaimer;
This wood is not for sale. It is soaking wet and I do not know how it will turn out when it dries.

Friday a woodworker who buys burl from us brought in a couple pieces of Redwood that he thought I would like. When he stops by, he always wants to see what unusual wood I have for handle material. I had asked him to keep his eyes open for really unusual stuff in his wanderings. When he came in this time he told Lin and Larry to find me because he had some good stuff for the knife handle guy.
Not knowing what to expect I wandered over to his van to see what he had for me.

The rectangle piece is a good chunk of Old Growth Curly or Flamed Redwood. The weird looking piece is an unusual growth that can happen on the trunk of an old growth Redwood that has very curly figure. This grows like a layer that is against the trunk but not physically part of the wood. Not sure if I am making sense here. It grows against the trunk like bark but it is a separate layer from the trunk that is mutated wood. Usually these layers are thin or full of pitch. I got lucky with this piece. No pitch, thick and solid.

Here I have the chunk on one of our bigger bandsaws.

I cut off the end that had the least amount of figure. I wanted to get an idea what the inside of the wood was like. I thought if it was not solid or if it was pitchy I could still use it to make a lamp or something.

Looked good inside so now to cut off a chunk to cut into blocks.

Now I wanted to see how to cut for the best figure. With curly wood you usually want to be as close as possible to quarter sawn to show off the figure best. But on the weird stuff you just don't know until you start cutting.

After cutting some flat sawn, some quarter sawn and some at an angle, I found it looked good no matter what. But the figure was boldest with the pieces that were close to being quarter sawn. So that was what I would aim for when cutting up the rest.

Now I cut the rest of the chunk into manageable pieces.

Then I cut a flat to go against the fence so I can cut slabs to cut blocks from.

You can see that the saw blade is at a right angle to the outer surface of the wood. Positioning the wood this way makes a cut that is at a right angle to the growth rings in the wood. That is how you cut wood to be quarter sawn.

Now the slabs are cut. Most are quarter sawn or very close to it. The figure in these pieces is going to be some of the boldest figured Redwood that I have seen.

Now, hopefully I will be able to dry it without it cracking up on me.
Only time will tell.

Just wanted to click the 'Like' button, so much beautiful wood seems to confuse me... Thanks for the pics! Oh, and good luck with the drying. Willthise go into a kiln?
Stefan

I have a sort of dehumidification kiln / drying room that I will be using.
I keep the temperature about 60 to 70f and place the wood on a bread rack.
A whole house fan blows the air through the wood and a dehumidifier pulls the moisture out of the air.
Works real good on most woods.

I have a sort of dehumidification kiln / drying room that I will be using.
I keep the temperature about 60 to 70f and place the wood on a bread rack.
A whole house fan blows the air through the wood and a dehumidifier pulls the moisture out of the air.
Works real good on most woods.

Approximately what would you expect the drying time to be? It looks awesome!

once in a while you get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right

Approximately what would you expect the drying time to be? It looks awesome!

And what does the electricity bill look like But that sounds good. My drying system is simpler. It keeps about 75-85F constant and is called 'open window and trade winds' Downside is, I never get much below 12-14% but never had any issues with stabilizing that.

Approximately what would you expect the drying time to be? It looks awesome!

The drying time can vary quite a bit.
Maple (easiest) can go from fresh cut green wood 1.5" blocks to 10% moisture content in just over a month.
Walnut can take about 3 months. I am guessing this redwood will take a few weeks because it is water wet, not green wood.

I am sure it bumps up the electric bill but not so much that the boss complains.

Nice to see an old butcher's saw in use. I used to have a Biro in my cabinet shop. Great looking wood Mark have you ever thought about vacuum drying? Don't need to pull that much vacuum just enough to lower the evaporating temperature of the water. It's very easy on the wood too.